Base Station Sales Will Remain Strong but Decline Looms After 2008

InStat: Revenue from sales of cellular base stations will remain strong through 2008. But, by 2009, base station revenue will begin a steep decline.

Spending on cellular base stations by cellular service providers these last few years has been untypical, as spending on deployment of new WCDMA networks is much higher than typical had cellular carriers only been maintaining, upgrading, and increasing the capacity of current networks. Once deployment of most of these new networks is complete, yearly spending will drop to more typical levels.

• New cellular base station revenue will reach $53.2 million in 2006, and is forecast to drop sharply in the years that follow.

• Deployment of WiMAX, Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies will increasingly put pressure on cellular technology.

• In the last few years, base station prices, especially WCDMA base stations, have been cut to a fraction of their cost of just a few years ago.

In-Depth Analysis: Base Station Five Year Forecast 2005-2011 Publ 20060918